The Elijah Syndrome When do you feel the most alone? Think about these two scenarios; a Saturday afternoon after a normal but decent and productive week of work. You take a walk, work in your garden, read an interesting book and have a good meal. Or a Saturday afternoon after a long, hard week filled with conflict and you’re heading …
Why we need agency Agency is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free choices. Showing agency is a cornerstone of mature adults and a way to take responsibility for yourself. There are a lot of ways we can show agency (or lack agency). Our finances, for example, are something in which we all can …
The two most common stressors There are many roads in our life that lead to stress. Work, relationships, personal goals… all of these things naturally come with some road bumps and road bumps usually lead to some stress. We often can’t control when stress comes into our lives, but it’s normal to experience stress now and then and there are …
Stress and sleep There are lots of reasons that you might not be sleeping; lack of exercise, irregular schedules, too much screen time or too much caffeine…all of these things can all affect your sleep. But nothing keeps you up when you should be sleeping like stress. One of the symptoms I listed in my first visit to the doctor …
Self-care can mitigate stress You wake up from another night of tossing and turning, your shoulders are tight, your jaw aches from grinding your teeth in your sleep. For a few minutes too long you lay in your bed contemplating the day ahead of you and your long to-do list makes you want to go right back to sleep. You …
Understanding your stress? Something that many people don’t realize about stress is that it’s like a snowball rolling down a hill, which begins with just a small and manageable handful of frozen water. But then more and more snow clings to the original ball until suddenly, you have a very large, very cold boulder of snow to contend with. And …
Social Media–A Modern Addiction There is no denying that smart technology has changed our daily lives. We have access to everything: tomorrow’s weather forecast, restaurant menus, even our favourite TV shows right in our pocket! But for all the entertainment and ease new technology adds to our lives, there is a downside. Many of us have become addicted to our …
Develop self-moderation rather than rely on prohibition. Everyone has something they just love: sweets, adrenaline, a cold beer… it’s normal. When something is good, we want more, and occasionally, we all over-indulge. That’s normal too. It’s when we form real addictions that things get scary and serious. No one wants to be dependent on a substance or experience outside of …
Over the years, I have seen a lot of gifted, talented and charismatic people become immobilised by poor judgement and decisions. It might have been through unhealthy decisions for their body; such as addictions to junk food or alcohol. Or it might be unhealthy emotional addictions; such as a bad relationship or social media. Either way, any kind of addiction …
Happy New Year! Here at the start of a fresh new season, we can’t help but look towards our future. What will this new year hold for us? What changes are in store? Where will be we a year from now? This tends to be the time of year when we make resolutions and goals. We optimistically resolve to throw …
